DA-BFAR launches first of 33 FRP fishing boats for municipal fisherfolk

The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) set sail Wednesday a 62-footer fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) tuna handline fishing boat  for municipal fishermen.

“Mas malalaking bangka, mas malayong distansya ang mararating at maraming huli ang maiuuwi (Bigger boats would mean longer distances to be sailed and abundant fish to be caught),"  DA-BFAR officer in charge Director Atty. Demosthenes Escoto said during the inauguration of the bureau’s Capacitating Municipal Fisherfolk program at the Pacificfortia Marine Technologies Inc. Subic Facility in Zambales.

The vessel is part of the 33-unit contract with Pacificfortia Marine Technologies Inc., a local Philippine-registered boat manufacturer, for the acquisition and allocation of 27 units of FRP 62-footer handline fishing boat costing P6.3 million each and six units of FRP 62-footer bagnet fishing boat costing P6.4 million each.

In a statement, DA-BFAR’s said the project aims to improve the socio-economic well-being of small-scale fishers, whose capacity and efficiency of applied fishing technologies are limited.

It also aims to advance fisherfolk cooperatives and associations' capability in running the project as an enterprise to ensure sustainability and tangible benefits to beneficiaries.

Earlier in February 2022, two steel-hulled ring net fishing vessels were launched and will be handed over to selected fisherfolk associations in Region I (Ilocos Region) and Region VIII (Eastern Visayas). Another two units will be granted to fisherfolks in Region IVB (MIMAROPA) and Region IX (Zamboanga) in early 2023.—Sherylin Untalan/AOL, GMA News